SP Rides: The Red Deimos

February 8, 2013

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By Michael Kitchens

Friends know Adam Paul Cadorna as “Deimos” — the “personification of terror” in Greek — and with good reason. He’s owned 19 different cars in his 27 years on this earth and every single one of them has been about frightening speed. Even his first hand-me-down automatic ’89 Honda Accord was run down the quarter mile with the gas pedal mashed through the floorboard.

Born into a family of automobile fanatics, including a father who loved the smell of burnt rubber on asphalt, Adam grew up surrounded by domestic muscle and was a regular at the track for most of his youth. Perhaps surprisingly, Adam soon became enthralled by the import scene.

“I used to watch Initial D. It opened me up to the world of Japanese cars, like the Integra Type R,” says Adam.

Since then, he’s never looked back. He’s owned practically every Integra made: a Toyota MR2, a Hachiroku and the former love of his life, the Mitsubishi Evo 8. Tragically, the heavily modified Evo ate it after getting rear-ended in a three-car pile-up on the freeway. Time heals all wounds, though, and Adam eventually discovered a black ’04 Acura RSX just looking for a good home.

Adam has an absolute love for Hondas and the primary intent was to modify the RSX as soon as the keys were in his hand. The first step was to add tunes, so he swapped out stock speakers with an Alpine setup consisting of a receiver and V-Power Amp mated to Type S door speakers and a 10-inch JL Audio CP110 BassWedge.

Performance wise, he’s kept it mild yet wild with primarily bolt-ons such as the DC Sports Race Headers and a fitted test pipe to free up exhaust flow. The engine features one of two Password JDM PowerChamber intakes on the island and looks good with some engine dress-up, including a red valve cover. The engine is still a work-in-progress with the intent to swap to a Type S head with a Hondata K-Pro to up the horsepower. The RSX also features Progress Coilovers with bronze 18-inch XXR 527s covered in 245/40 R18 Yokohama Advans to increase its handling performance.

The real attention-getter is the looks. After refreshing the exterior with a 05/06 front and rear conversion, Adam had the car re-painted in deep Milano Red by his friend Thomas. His ride features cool accents such as the Type R front lip and spoiler, and additional details such as the Password JDM bumper tabs and fog lights. Pop the hood with the Aerocatch hood pins and the car literally blossoms. Underneath its blazing red exterior is a vivid, hand-painted mural of a cherry blossom tree, created by his friend Rubinson Itong Jr. It really is quite stunning.

The interior has been one-upped and features JDM DC5R Recaro seats in red with matching door inserts as well as ITR doorsills. Adam also had his roof redone in black to match his interior in addition to installing a Skunk2 weighted shift knob.

Although he plans on more modifications for this gorgeous ride, Adam has already met his goal to enter HIN and feels satisfied with his ride. Adam does believe in a specific ethos regarding his build. He likes to keep it aggressive and elegant at the same time while being completely functional as his daily driver.